Jindal Steel & Power

Jindal Steel and Power is a part of the O. P. Jindal Group and describes itself as "a leading player in Steel, Power, Mining, Coal to Liquid, Oil & Gas and Infrastructure". Subsidiaries of the company are Jindal Power Ltd, Jindal Steel Bolivia, Jindal Petroleum Ltd. and Jindal Cement.

Expansion plans
On its website, Jindal Sateel and Power states that it has three major expansion projects. These are:


 * Establishing a 7 million tonnes per annum steel plant in phases, a 2 million tonnes per annum cement plant and a 1600 megawatt (MW) captive power plant with a total investment of over US $6 billion (Rs. 30,000 crore) in Chhattisgarh:


 * establishing an 11 million tonnes per annum integrated steel plant and a 2600 MW captive power plant in Jharkhand. The project would be built in phases, with a total investment of US $9 billion (Rs. 45,000 crore). The first phase comprising a 3 million tonnes per annum steel plant at Patratu near Ranchi is expected to be commissioned by 2012; and


 * establishing a 12.5 million tonnes per annum integrated steel plant and 2600 MW captive power plant in Orissa. The company proposes that the project be built in phases, with a total investment of US $ 10 billion (Rs. 50,000 crore).

Protests against expansion plans
On May 28, 2011, two indigenous rights activists, Ramesh Agrawal and Dr Harihar Patel, were arrested in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh and denied release on bail.

The state police charged the two men with “circulating defamatory material”, “disrupting public order” and “causing alarm and panic among the public” at a May 8, 2010 mandatory public consultation, held by the state pollution board at Tamnar village, relating to the proposed expansion of a coal-fired plant run by Jindal Steel and Power.

Agrawal and Patel expressed concerns that the expansion would lead to the forcible acquisition of lands from the surrounding local communities by the authorities. The two activists had objected to the proposal and cited an official inspection report which stated that the expansion began before the mandatory clearances were given. Ramesh Agrawal also successfully petitioned India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests to temporarily suspend the terms of reference for the expansion. Following a complaint relating to the delay, the state authorities decided to arrest the two activists.

Ramesh Agrawal works for the environmental rights organization Jan Chetna, and Dr Harihar Patel practices indigenous medicine. They had been actively campaigning against the pollution caused by existing industrial projects, including coal plants, and the potential negative environmental impact of proposed industrial projects in central Chhattisgarh. The two activists have been at the forefront of the campaign for the public disclosure of information relating to projects which affect local Adivasi (Indigenous) communities and for ensuring that these are available to the communities. Their arrest, Amnesty International believes, is intended to stop their peaceful campaign activities.

The two activists were sent to Raigarh prison until June 3, 2011, and a local court rejected their appeals for release on bail on June 2. Ramesh Agrawal, who complained of hypertension, was taken for treatment at a government-run hospital where he is being kept chained to his bed.

Jindal Power
Jindal Power states on its website that it aims to "establish a presence in other forms of power generation such as gas, hydro, wind, nuclear and solar power, with a focus on hydro and other forms of environment friendly renewable energy sources." However, the company is a major player in the construction of India's 'Ultra Mega Power Projects'. (See India and coal for more details of the government's plans).

JPL was the first private sector company to build one of the 'ultra mega' projects, the 1000 megawatt coal-fired Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. The project began operation in December 2007. The company states that the "fuel supply of the plant is met through its captive coal mines. A 6.9 km conveyor pipeline has been set up for transportation of coal between the mines and the plant. The Company has constructed a 258 km, 400 KV Double Circuit transmission line from the plant to the PGCIL sub-station at Raipur through which power can be sold anywhere in India. For meeting the plant’s consumptive water requirement, an 18 m high dam over the Kurket River has been built, 25 km away from the project site."

The company also states that it is "expanding its capacity at Tamnar by setting up a 2400 MW thermal power plant" adjoining the existing Tamnar 1000 MW power plant. It refers to this as the Tamnar II Project with the original plant referred to as the Tamnar I Project and also as the O. P. Jindal Super Thermal Power Plant. It also states that it has "signed an MoU with the State Government of Jharkhand to set up a 2640 MW thermal power plant." A company briefing note on its expansion plans states that the project will be "completed in stages in the year of 2012 and 2013 and the same has been funded on the basis of 75:25 debt:equity."

The briefing note also states that the company has announced an expansion "at Dumka, Jharkhand 1320 MW (2X660 MW) Power Plant at an estimated project cost of Rs. 7224.00 Cr. (US $ 1.62 billion). This Plant will be completed in stages in the year of 2014 and the same has been funded on the basis of 70:30 debt:equity." The company refers to the proposed plant as simply the Dumka Project.

It also states that a further 600 megawatt power plant at Godda, Jharkhand would be completed in 2014 at an estimated project cost of Rs. 3666.00 Cr. (US $ 0.82 billion)on the basis of 70:30 debt:equity." The company refers to the proposed plant as the Godda Project.

Overseas coal expansion plans
Jindal Steel and Power is looking to expand its overseas mining interests. In particular it:


 * has a 76% stake in Kiepersol Colliery located near the Piet Retief town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The company states on its website that "the mine produces high quality anthracite and lean bituminous coal. This coal is being sold in both domestic and international markets. JSPL has been shortlisted for the 2400 MW Power Project supply to ESKOM, the government owned electricity generator and supplier in South Africa."


 * is one of the companies assessing a possible bid for Bandanna Energy, a Australin Stock Exchange listed company which holds 16 exploration permits in the Bowen and Galilee basins in Queensland, Australia;


 * is seeking to expand on its 14.% share in Rocklands Richfields, an Australian company which has exploration titles to coal deposits in the Bowen Basin of Queensland and a 480,000-tonnes per annum coking coal plant located in eastern China.


 * has, via subsidiaries, been awarded coal exploration licences over coal deposits in Mozambique. In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange it was announced that Jindal Resources (Mozambique) Ltd, "has been allotted Block-2 in Moatize district of Tete province." The licence covers an area of 1,480 hectares near the head of the Sena railway which runs to Beira port. The company stated that the exploration area was estimated to contain reserves of approximately 150 million tonnes. Another Jindal subsidiary, Jindal Metal and Mining "had entered into a joint venture agreement with a Mozambique-based company for prospecting, exploration and mining of coal. This block is estimated to contain thermal coal reserves of around 300 million tonnes." The report did not mention the name of the joint venture partner or the specific coal exploration area.

Personnel

 * Naveen Jindal, Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Jindal Steel and Power.

Contact details
Jindal Centre 12 Bhikaiji Cama Place New Delhi 110 066 Tel:+91 11 26188340-50 Fax: +91 11 26161271 Email: marketing AT jindalsteel.com Website: http://www.jindalsteelpower.com/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Imprisonment of two Chhattisgarh activists over opposition to Jindal Power's Tamnar II Project
 * India and coal
 * Sri Lanka and coal